Love Visible
by prouvaires
Summary: -And I'm ready for this. This. This perfect, unexpected gift. A baby. Our baby.- //Slight spoilers for last book.//


**So, another one-shot for you lovely people who reviewed my last one ;) I hope you like it.**

**All in Flavia's point of view.**

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I'm so happy. I thought I would never be as happy as the day I married Floppy, but I was so wrong. This moment, this one, amazing moment, has given my heart wings. I'm thanking all the gods and goddesses I can remember.

I'm sixteen now. Older, wiser, more mature than I was before. I'm ready for this. _This. _This perfect, unexpected gift.

A baby.

Our baby.

I smile contentedly to myself as I curl around my stomach, only slightly swollen at this point. I'm three, maybe four months in. I had attributed my weight gain and fatigue earlier in the year to the blinding heat of the summer, during the days when it's too hot for even snakes to be outside.

Now I know the truth, and I've never, ever been happier.

I'm sitting in an armchair stuffed with cushions, grinning like a fool. I haven't told anyone. I only realised today, and I want Floppy to be the first to know. I can't wait to see his face. I want to tell Nubia too, and Lupus and my father and Aristo and the whole world!

Except Jonathon. I know how he'll react. When Nubia had her first baby six months ago, Jonathon was terrified. He spent days praying for her safety, for her life. He's never gotten over what happened to Miriam. I don't want him to worry for me like he did for Nubia. I don't want him to vanish for months like he did when she was pregnant. I want to be totally and completely happy, and I can't be if one of my best friends is killing himself over the reason for my happiness.

I'm sitting in an upstairs window, a glass of water resting on the sill next to my chair. The sun is beating down on the dusty street outside, but inside it's cool and shady. I get momentarily distracted by the blue shadow that's caused by the sunlight shining through the blue glass of the cup, but then I hear a noise outside, in the road.

A tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired man comes into view, riding a huge chestnut stallion. He's followed by two other men, and when he pulls to a halt in front of the house they nod, exchange a few words, and then move on.

I can't restrain myself for a moment longer.

"Floppy!" I cry, hoisting myself up onto my arms to lean out of the sill. He glances up once he's dismounted, catching the reins of the horse.

"Hello, love. How are you?" he calls up to me, and I beam.

"Absolutely fantastic!"

He grins at me, his handsome face lighting up, and I drop back down to the ground and race through the house, down the stairs and into the courtyard, then across that and into the stables.

I meet him as he's coming out of the horse's stall, carrying the saddle. He only just has time to set it down before I fling myself on him, kissing him hard. He laughs when we finally part.

"You're in an exceptionally good mood this afternoon," he comments, one hand cupping my face and the other resting on my hip.

"I've got some news," I say, smiling tentatively up at him. He frowns.

"Good or bad?"

"Brilliant."

"Oh," he says, and then smiles. "Well, let's hear it then."

I pause for a minute, and then throw my arms around his neck and put my mouth close to his ear to whisper the words.

"I'm pregnant," I say softly, breathing in his heady scent. He freezes absolutely dead, and then lets out a whoop of pure joy. He picks me up around the waist, swinging me round and round while covering my face in kisses.

I laugh in delight as he whirls me around, moving out into the courtyard and the sunshine. When he eventually sets me down I'm giggling and dizzy, and I have to hang on to his arm until the world stops shifting beneath me.

"I can't believe it," he murmurs, moving his gaze from the bright afternoon sky to my face. My arms slide around his neck as he kisses me again, but softer and more gentle this time. He moves one of his hands to rest on my belly, and I cover it with one of mine.

"Our baby," I say quietly, pulling him down closer to my level so I can rest my forehead against his, my fair hair falling against his to create a contrast.

"I've never been so happy," he tells me with a disbelieving smile, and I laugh.

"Me neither."

We stay like that for a long time, neither of us moving, totally absorbed in our joy. A gentle breeze plays around us, toying with the ends of my tunic and ruffling his hair. Then his hands move from my tummy to my back, and he presses me into him. I hug him back, so tight I feel like I can't breathe.

I feel his tears o joy on my scalp, and in turn wet his chest with mine. I can hear him whispering "thank you, thank you," over and over. And I know that nothing on Earth can feel as amazing as this does right now.

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**So, I thought my last one was a little depressing, so I thought I'd write a more cheerful one. Leave a review telling me what you think!**


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